The last open locker room of the season for the Bucs occurred on Monday as players cleaned out their lockers and got ready to depart for the offseason. There were feelings of frustration in how the season went as Tampa Bay spiraled after a 6-2 record to fall to 8-9, missing the playoffs.

Bigger questions lie ahead, though, as there’s uncertainty over the future of head coach Todd Bowles. Not reaching the postseason is one thing, but when it’s the worst division in football in the NFC South, it’s certainly more glaring. Whether Bowles stays or goes is up to ownership and general manager Jason Licht.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bucs’ Star Comments On Todd Bowles

Speaking to some of the players on Monday, it sounds like Todd Bowles has their support, or at least has them saying kind things about him.

Pro Bowl left tackle Tristan Wirfs has become a well respected leader in the locker room. He’s quickly risen up the ranks as a top tackle in this league, and what he says holds a lot of value in the organization and amongst fans in the community.

Wirfs began with admiration for Bowles while acknowledging he’s heard the chatter about his possible firing. Yet he’s not buying into the noise.

“I love Coach Bowles,” Wirfs said. “I see all the talk on Twitter. I really don’t care about it. It’s just people that are sitting at home and talking about it.”

Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The latter half of what he said didn’t exactly spell out that he’s necessarily lobbying for Bowles to be back.

“We know what we have in this building,” he said. “If something happens, something happens. If something doesn’t, something doesn’t. The season’s coming regardless, I know we’re all going to be ready.”

This doesn’t mean Wirfs necessarily wants to move on from Bowles, but he wouldn’t exactly be crying about it either.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan Shows Support

A player that did show a lot of support for Todd Bowles is second-year receiver Jalen McMillan. It was an incredibly tumultuous season for McMillan as he fractured vertebrae in his neck during a preseason game that kept him of action until December. He managed to comeback in Week 15 and played the last four games on the schedule.

McMillan finished with 178 yards on 12 catches while playing on a pitch count upon his return. The highlight game for him was the penultimate game on the season where he recorded seven catches for 114 yards against Miami.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Nathan Ray Seebeck -Imagn Images

The only coach McMillan has had in his young NFL career has been Bowles. He definitely had his back when voicing how he felt about him.

“He’s a great leader,” McMillan said. “A great leader. He’s just somebody that shows up to work every day and he’s going to give the same type of effort every day. He’s my guy, I love him to death. Hopefully he stays here.”

Not every player may want Bowles to return, but some important players that are core pieces to this group at least like him enough. The fans may feel differently, and we’ll see how ownership decides in the coming days as they may reroute the future of the organization at the head coaching position.